Don't Call Me Dear
by Rosie-not-Rose
Summary: Booth takes Bones to one of his favourite places in an attempt to educate her, and she learns a lesson she definitely hadn't expected. Set during season five, shortly before Christmas.


"The victim was approximately twenty to twenty-five years old, one hundred and sixty centimeters. Time of death was at least two days ago, judging by the rate of decomposition." Brennan looked up at Booth, to check he had taken the information in. It seemed he had, as his attention was focused directly on her, but Brennan recognized the expression on his face as someone who was faraway in his thoughts.

"What's your favorite season?" he asked out of nowhere, and Brennan frowned.

"Huh?" She was a highly intelligent woman, how did he manage to throw her off her game so easily?

"Your favorite season! You know, spring with the new flowers and blossom and... things," Booth said, clearly running out of descriptive words, "winter with the snowmen, skating on lakes..." He paused, grimacing. "Um, so I suck at painting a decent picture, but have at it, Bones. Which do you like best?" He pulled her to her feet away from the particularly odorous corpse.

"And you're wondering this now... why?" She gave a couple of brief instructions to an official standing nearby, and they began walking back to the car.

"Well, I thought I knew everything about you, Bones – even if you don't like it," he added hurriedly as she opened her mouth, looking put out, "but today I realized that's one thing I _don't_ know." He paused as if expecting a response, but when there was just silence he prompted her. "So, tell me," he instructed, giving her a trademark Booth grin.

Brennan rolled her eyes and removed her jeff jumpsuit, flinging it into the trunk before they climbed into the car. She paused to consider the question carefully. When no answer struck her after a few moments, she turned the heat towards him. "What's yours?"

"Why are you –" Booth made an exasperated noise. "Summer, Bones. I like summer."

"Oh um... me too."

Booth stared at her as he started the engine. "You just agreed with me for the sake of it!"

She shifted slightly in her seat, uncomfortable. "I don't have a favorite, I guess."

"Really?" They pulled out of the car park where the body had been found, and began heading back to the Jeffersonian.

"Mmm. I never really thought about it, Booth." She struggled to see the point of this conversation, but that was often the case when conversing with Booth.

"What season are we in now?" he asked, expecting an instant answer from Bones so he wouldn't have to work it out himself. He _did _receive an immediate answer, but it wasn't the one he was expecting.

"I don't know... Fall?" Brennan sounded impatient, but Booth knew her well enough now to recognize that she was partly annoyed at_ herself_ for not knowing the answer.

"Wow, Bones, did you leave the genius section of your brain back at your apartment this morning?" he teased. The image of that made her laugh before she could stop herself, and she shot him a half exasperated, half amused look.

"Shut up," she added for good measure.

His grin widened. "Winter, Bones, not Fall," he told her, after pausing to work it out. "Information _you don't know?_ Wow." He smirked to himself at having the upper hand for a change.

Brennan waved her hand, affronted. "I knew it was Fall _or_ Winter, I just couldn't determine which. We're in that section of the year where I believe the seasons overlap, and I… find it difficult to distinguish the difference." She paused, embarrassed. "It's all trivial information anyway; I'd rather catch murderers than learn about useless facts."

Booth wasn't at all affected by her sudden hardness of tone. Without taking his eyes off the road, he said, "Wow, you really get antsy when you don't know something."

His words pricked the indignant balloon that had swelled inside her, and she sagged back against her seat with a sigh. A silence fell. When Booth looked sideways at her a minute later, she smiled slightly at him, hoping to keep the peace. Silently she wondered when this had become so important. Back when Booth and she began working together, they had argued often, and it hadn't been the innocent bickering they now shared, there had been genuine disagreements. Brennan hadn't hidden the fact that she didn't hold a very high opinion of Booth. She reflected that their partnership had been easier then. Her life in general had felt safer five years ago, with no one except Angela that she really shared a bond with, to risk losing. Now she had Booth and... in some ways, it was terrifying.

"Hey, you want me to teach you?" Booth's voice cut into the silence and her thoughts, and she relaxed slightly at its obvious warmth.

"What, about seasons?" She waved a hand again, brushing aside the offer. "I can just Google it when I get back to the lab." A pause, in which she realized that might have appeared rude. "But thank you."

"No no, Bones, not _that_ sort of teaching. No computers and text books and all that malarkey. Clearly seasons are a blank spot in your endless knowledge, so how about we remedy that?" He tried to keep his face impassive.

"What exactly would you teach me?" Brennan angled towards him slightly, intrigued despite herself.

"Wait and see, Bones! You up for it?"

She nodded almost instantly, surprising him considerably. "Yes. I enjoyed 'being the student', as Sweets put it, when you attempted to teach me to fix your pipes."

Booth's face lit up and he gave her a look that made her stomach twist slightly when she noticed. "You enjoyed it?" he asked.

"Yes…" Brennan said slowly, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth slightly and wondering if she had been a little too open with that statement.

"I was a great teacher, right?" he added cockily, puffing out his chest as best he could in the driver's seat.

Brennan paused to consider this, and a smile spread across her face at the recollection. "Well, we both ended up dripping wet, so I wouldn't consider it an overall success."

Booth just grinned at her, also enjoying the memory. "I think being the student is good for you sometimes, Bones."

She frowned. "That's what Sweets said. But I don't understand why."

"Well, I'm sure Sweets would have some squinty, over-complicated way of explaining it, but basically it's a way of showing that there are different ways you can learn things. You can't always be stuck in a lab – you only discover so much about life in there. Experiencing things first hand is often just as important as learning the anthropological meaning behind them."

There was a silence as she digested this. "I can appreciate that on a certain level," she commented eventually, "although I _like _to work."

Booth smiled at the blatancy of that statement. "Funnily enough, I know. But you'll also like what I have planned for you today, I'm convinced of it." He faltered slightly. "Well, almost convinced. And actually," he added suddenly, pulling the car into a very sharp u-turn so that Brennan gripped the dashboard tightly, trying to hide her surprise, "no time like the present!"

"But Booth, the body is being shipped to the Jeffersonian, we should be there when –" A finger was pressed against her lips, effectively stopping her speech. How he managed to do that while driving, Brennan had no clue. She batted his hand away.

"Ssshhh..." Booth muttered. "The lab can survive without you for a few hours. All will become clear, dear Bones."

"Don't call me dear."

"Oh, that makes a change from 'Don't call me Bones'," Booth chuckled.

"I haven't said that in years," she commented thoughtfully, more to herself than Booth.

Another sign of how far they'd come. It had been easier for them to argue, easier for Brennan to dislike him, to not care. But better? Brennan smiled as she pondered this question. No, this was pretty much as good as it got.

For now.

~ * ~ * ~

They'd been driving in the opposite direction for twenty minutes, and as they got further and further away from the lab, Brennan became more and more fidgety in the passenger seat. Even if Booth hadn't been naturally observant, he wouldn't have failed to notice that.

"Bones? Bones." She looked at him. "Calm down."

"I'm calm!"

"You said that in a particularly high voice," Booth pointed out, trying to hide his smirk.

"I'm fine." He just looked at her sympathetically, until she relented. "OK, there's a body that has most likely arrived at the lab by now, and I really think we should be there!"

"Bones." Booth placed a hand on her arm as they reached a set of traffic lights, and Brennan's eyes followed his movement. "You're not the only genius in there, you know?"

"I have the highest recorded IQ of anyone currently employed at the lab, as far as I'm aware."

"That's … probably true, but still. I'm just teaching you to live outside the lab a little. There's more to life than skeletons – remember, it's just a job, Bones. Not the be all and end all of everything."

There was a shocked silence, and then Brennan reached over to slap his arm. Hard.

"What the – Bones, ow!" Booth winced, rubbing his arm. "What the hell was that for?"

"For being so damn condescending!" she shot back angrily, looking extremely put out.

After a moment, Booth's look of pain faded and a grin took its place. "I know, I'm sorry Bones, I was just winding you up." At her look of annoyance and confusion, he hastily elaborated. "I thought getting you pissed would distract you from thinking about skeletons you should be inspecting right about now."

Brennan didn't seem altogether mollified. "Well, you certainly did a good job with the former."

"Sorry." He glanced at her a few times, clocking the haughty expression she wore. Masking, as he knew perfectly well by now, the fact that she was a little bit hurt. Wow, sometimes he could be a dick without even realizing it.

"You know I don't mean that, right, Bones?" God, he hoped so.

Her eyes shifted to meet his. "That I'm a boring person who has no life outside the lab?" she queried.

Dammit. "Oh, we're here!" Booth announced suddenly, pulling onto the curb and shutting off the engine. He sat there for a moment, chewing on his words. "This conversation never happened, Bones. You are who you are, and I like you very much because of it, so you'd better not change. Okay?"

Brennan laughed quietly; a sound Booth told himself he didn't hear nearly often enough. While he would never admit this to anyone, sometimes he found himself telling a pointless silly joke just to hear her make that adorable sound. He was _way_ too far gone.

And still just about able to hide it. From Brennan, at least.

They both stepped out of the car, and Brennan stood with her hands on her hips, looking around. "Where are we?"

"Come with me." Booth took her hand in his and dragged her down a little footpath that she hadn't noticed before then.

Despite the fact that it was only early afternoon and the sun was up, as soon as they entered this passage, the impression of night-time fell upon them. Looking up, Brennan noticed that the trees were thick and naturally curved and growing above them, shielding them from any real sunlight. It was surprisingly pleasant.

After a few moments of walking, Brennan silently removed her hand from Booth's considerably larger one. It didn't feel very like a 'Booth and Brennan' thing to do, and she didn't quite know what to make of it. She heard Booth give a very small sigh, and wondered why.

"Don't you change either," she suddenly told him. She hadn't really planned to say that, she was just thinking it, but somehow it rose to her lips. There was a pause, and she wished she could see Booth's face properly to try and discern his reaction. She could only make out his silhouette and vague features.

"Course I won't, Bones." He definitely sounded pleased.

"Good."

~ * ~ * ~

Five minutes later, they were still walking along the seemingly never-ending path, but they hadn't exchanged many words. Brennan sensed that where they were going was important to Booth, and was again left feeling a little unsure, which meant that she pondered rather than spoke. Booth also seemed lost in thought, until he suddenly stopped walking.

"We're here, Bones."

"We are?" She peered ahead, trying to work out where they were.

"Yep. Come on." He lead the way as the path veered slightly off to the left, and suddenly the trees widened and the path ended, and they stepped out into the light. It took a couple of seconds for Brennan's eyes to adjust to the return of the sunlight, but when they did she took a good look around.

They seemed to have arrived at a lake, and they were currently standing on a small beach of some kind. Except in Brennan's eyes, it was no ordinary lake, or run of the mill beach. It was all… completely beautiful. Huge trees surrounded the sandy area in a natural curve, giving it a secluded feeling and shady appearance that instantly appealed to her. The vast expanse of water sparkled in the sunlight, and looking into the distance, she could see nothing but the lake ahead of her, the trees blocking out all other views.

"Wow," Brennan uttered simply, surprised to find herself slightly lost for words.

Booth spun round to look at her, a full on beaming smile displaying his pleasure that she approved of it. "You like it?"

"Yes." She found herself laughing. "Very much."

"I knew you would." Booth grinned. "This is mine and Parker's little place, we've been coming here for _years_."

"Really?" Brennan smiled as she noticed the fondness on Booth's face as he spoke of Parker.

"Yeah, Parker ran down this passage when he was four, Rebecca and I were scared to death thinking he'd disappeared god knows where, but when we followed him down here… we came across this. It's been Parker's favorite place ever since. We have a picnic here every summer, and it's great for swimming. Although actually," he suddenly paused, looking slightly awkward, "I've never brought anyone except Parker here."

Brennan frowned. "Then, why am I here, Booth?"

Booth said nothing for a moment, scratching the back of his head. Finally he settled on, "It's pretty, thought you'd like to see it."

"But you just said you haven't –"

"Doesn't matter, Bones, okay?"

Brennan stared at him, suddenly understanding something. "Wait a minute – you never intended to educate me about seasons, did you? You just wanted to show me … here." She indicated the beach with her hand.

Booth was more than surprised. "Ninety percent of stuff that's staring you in the face you manage to miss, but _this_ you see through?"

"Well, I am a constant surprise, Booth," she replied, smiling slightly.

He laughed, staring at her. "Yeah."

There was a pause, and then Booth broke eye contact and knelt down to remove his shoes and socks. Brennan just watched with amusement, until he looked up at her and raised an eyebrow. "What are you waiting for?"

"Um…"

From his lower position, Booth reached over and began untying her shoelaces. Taken aback, she tried to hop backwards out of the way, but he held on tight to her foot and she almost fell over.

"Booth!" She was laughing. "Quit it."

"Make me." He was set on his goal now, moving to the other shoe, while Brennan struggled half-heartedly. With a considerable amount of skill, Booth whipped both her shoes off, instructing her to lift her feet, one after another, and then moved to take off her socks. Brennan stopped him; suddenly feeling inexplicably exposed.

"I can take my own socks off, Booth." He shrugged and stood up, and she proceeded to remove them, tucking them carefully into her shoes. "Are we going for a dip?"

"Just a paddle. You'd have to be very brave to swim in the lake in winter."

"I think stupid would be a more accurate description."

Booth grinned. "Well yeah, that as well."

They moved towards the water, Brennan planning her route carefully to avoid any jagged stones that she could accidentally step on. As they got closer she noticed that down the centre there was a smooth slope of sand leading to the water, and on either side the land was raised slightly and jutted out, clearly the perfect place if you wanted to enter the water at a deeper level. She gave that an apprehensive glance and decided instantly to avoid it.

"You wanna be careful when you're paddling, Bones, the water gets deep very quickly," Booth warned her as they approached the edge of the sand.

"It's just water, Booth, I'm sure I can cope." Brennan smirked and stepped into the water, her smug demeanor instantly vanishing as she let out a small gasp. "Oh my god, it's _freezing_!"

Booth snorted. "It's not that bad! The sun's out – it'll get much colder when winter sets in properly." He moved in much further than Brennan, pulling his pant legs up so he could splash around enthusiastically. When he noticed that Brennan was merely standing stock still, looking apprehensive, he tried to liven her up and began kicking water in her direction.

"Hey!" She hastily retreated backwards out of the water. "You're very childish."

He just laughed at her, and turned round to continue moving deeper into the water.

Oh, alright then. A slightly wicked smile appeared on Brennan's face, and without pausing to think (rare enough in itself), she moved back into the water, scooped up some with both hands and with a very impressive aim, dropped it right on top of Booth's head.

"You -!" He did nothing but splutter for a few moments, before turning to face Brennan with _revenge_ plastered all over his face. Even she couldn't fail to notice that. As soon as he began advancing towards her, she pelted off towards the trees, letting out a girlish shriek that she instantly wondered had come from her mouth (she most certainly _didn't_ make noises like that). Booth instantly ran after her at full speed, and as she saw him advancing on her from behind, she knew the logical thing to do would be to concede.

"Booth?" She had finally reached a tree and peeked out at him from behind it.

"Bones?" He said her name in a totally different way than she said his.

"Please don't chase me."

"And why the hell shouldn't I? You … messed up my hair!" He scrubbed at it hopelessly as part of it lay flat and dripping.

Brennan rolled her eyes instantly. "I would be prepared to bet that you spend more time on your hair in the mornings than I do."

"Gotta look good, Bones!"

She frowned. "Actually no, logically the appearance of your hair has no effect whatsoever on the work you do for the FBI."

He stared at her for a few seconds in disbelief. "Yeah. Okay."

"So you shouldn't be so vain."

"Hey, I haven't forgiven you for tipping water all over my head."

"I'm sorry."

"I know you like it anyway."

"Like… what?" Once again, he managed to baffle her.

"My hair." He was grinning now, enjoying teasing her.

"Your _hair_?" Brennan's eyes moved upwards to glance at it. "I have no opinion on your hair."

"Sure. You keep telling yourself that, Bones."

She rolled her eyes again, before quickly changing the subject.

~ * ~ * ~

They stayed on that secluded beach for an hour more, not doing much except simply chatting. Talking was never a problem; they spent so much of their time together these days and yet never ran out of conversation. Booth had never experienced that with anybody else. They sat on a section of the raised earth and dangled their legs in the water, their pant legs pulled up as far as they could go.

"Booth?" Brennan spoke after a brief silence.

"Yeah."

"It feels … strange, being here."

He looked round at her. "Here?"

"Not this specific place. I mean …" She struggled to explain. "It isn't that I don't enjoy being here, Booth. But it feels like …"

"You're getting restless, Bones, it's okay."

"It just doesn't feel like _me_. It feels like we're –"

"Playing hooky?"

"If that means what I think it means, then yes! How do you always know what I'm going to say?" She smiled slightly, discovering she didn't mind at all.

"I know you, Bones." He didn't say this with any unnecessary air of confidence; he simply stated it as the way things were. And Brennan accepted it, surprised at herself that the thought didn't scare her as much as she expected it to. Although there were some things that even _he_ didn't know, things that she couldn't –

"Why did you bring me here, Booth?"

He didn't answer, just continued gazing out across the lake.

"Why me?" She was suddenly desperate to hear the answer, to understand. She glanced down at their hands, close but not quite together. It wasn't altogether dissimilar to their relationship.

After a few more moments of nothing but silence, she became impatient.

"Booth? Sometimes I need people to explain things to me, so I can understand. And I need _you_ to explain this to me."

"Explain _what_ to you, Bones?" The low tone of his voice almost scared her. It gave the impression of many emotions bubbling under the surface, and she had no clue what they were. And he still wasn't looking at her.

"Well." She frowned. "Why you decided to bring me here, even though you said you never bring anyone else. And why," she swallowed as a lump suddenly rose into her throat, "why sometimes recently, you seem to be really _sad_."

Booth's head snapped round as he looked at her. "Huh? I'm not sad, Bones."

"Yes you are, Booth." She furiously fought down the tears that were threatening to emerge. "I don't want you to be. I don't want you to be unhappy."

"That's sweet of you, Bones, but I'm fine, honestly."

"I don't appreciate that you're lying to me. And I'd really like it if you'd tell me what's bothering you. We _are_ partners."

At first it seemed Booth wasn't going to say anything at all, but then he gave a humorless laugh. "You of all people do _not_ want me to explain this."

Brennan hadn't expected that, but it didn't change things. "Yes, I do. Please, Booth." She looked down again at their hands, and in an attempt to reassure him, placed her hand over his, gripping his fingers. The very act made her nervous, but she ignored those feelings, and focused on Booth. "I'm waiting."

"Okay, Bones. You want me to explain to you what's bothering me."

"Yes," she confirmed, pleased.

"You want me to confide in you the reason I lie awake at night, why I can't focus on anything like I used to, why I can't even _shoot_ properly?"

Brennan swallowed. "They're all connected? But I thought –"

"My shooting ability has nothing to do with lack of practice, Bones. Gordon Gordon confirmed that – proved it, actually."

"Then… what?" She was frightened, now. What was he keeping to himself?

He stood up very suddenly and she jerked in alarm, thinking he was going to run off. But he didn't, he merely began pacing, looking extremely agitated, his jaw set and his eyes darting in different directions. She noticed all these things, because it was Booth, and she always noticed. It was just the way it was.

"I always knew it would have to come to the surface one day, but I never _imagined_ it would be so soon, I thought I'd have another five years of biting my tongue and clenching my fist whenever you're around, and –"

"Booth?" She stopped him. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Have I done something wrong, do you not want" - she stopped suddenly, her throat constricting – "do you not want to be partners anymore?"

Booth let out a noise that could have been either a laugh or a sob. He pulled Brennan to her feet slightly roughly. "After all these years, after all I've done for you, how can you even _think _that, Bones?"

Her eyes widened. "I don't know."

"You know what? From now on the insecurities are done with. They're over. I don't _ever_ want you to think that you're not worth anything, that people will just chuck you out of their life when it suits them. You've had terrible experiences in life, but it isn't because of who _you _are, Bones, it never was. It was because… well, because you've known some shitty people, in all honesty. There's nothing wrong with you, OK?"

"Booth…" Brennan broke their intense eye contact. He had just reached in and with a single gesture, removed some of her biggest walls, leaving her insecurities open to the world.

"I will never treat you like that."

At this she looked up again. "No. I know you won't."

"You sure you know?"

"Yes. Most – most of the time."

"Well, good."

A silence fell between them, but the air was thick with tension, and they never broke their fixed gaze. Brennan was trying desperately to read his expression, because she _still_ didn't understand, and she just wanted him to explain it so they could carry on with their lives. She had no clue of the bombshell about to be dropped on her.

When it became clear Booth wasn't continuing, Brennan prompted him.

"You still haven't told me the big… you know, the main point of this discussion… it still doesn't make sense to me," she finished lamely.

A dark look masked his expression again. "I – no, Bones. I can't. It isn't time."

"Alright, Booth, I'm sick of this." She grabbed his arm firmly. "Tell me what's going on _right now_."

He looked away for a second, and when he looked back, his eyes were full of pain. "It could wreck everything. Are you ready for that?"

"Tell me."

He gave her a heart-achingly sad smile, and very deliberately moved to smooth a loose strand of hair from her face that had fallen from her ponytail. She turned her head automatically into his touch, and gave him the warmest smile she could muster. It seemed to nudge him into action.

"I –"

She was just watching him.

"I'm insanely in love with you."

Time stopped.

Booth wanted nothing more than to look away, even to _run_ away, but he had come this far, he had been this brave, so why not go the whole way?

Brennan couldn't have spoken if she tried, because her mind had been wiped completely clean. She _had_ no thoughts. Or maybe there were so many that it had become white noise. She wouldn't have known either way.

The silence stretched on, just like it had the first time Booth had confessed his feelings to Brennan (even if he had taken it back), and yet again he found himself nervously filling the silence. "I have no idea what this will do to our partnership, Bones. I _did_ warn you, but you insisted I explained everything, and what can I say, lately it's like I can't keep it to myself as well as I used to. I _had_ to get it out there. And sometimes people just have to be brave. It just … well, it took me five years to find that courage." He gave a funny sort of laugh, despite the intense lack of humor to the situation.

She was still looking at him. Nothing else, just looking.

"Going a bit crazy over here, Bones. Now would be a great time to say something. Anything."

She blinked, as if coming out of a deep thought process.

"Oh god, Bones, have I messed up –"

Her lips were on his in a fraction of a second, and for several seconds he was struck dumb. There was no way he could react to _that, _Bones doing _that, _it so didn't seem like her, but there was no way he was going to break this magical moment and point that out to her, so when his brain caught up with his senses, he mostly definitely _reacted_. He took control of the kiss, moving his lips against hers in a way he had dreamt of for far too long, but of course the reality far surpassed the daydreams. A few moments later he was caressing her mouth in such a way that a tiny whimper was drawn from her, something that stopped him in his tracks for a second, a truly amazing sound he never thought he would have the honor of experiencing. This was _Bones._

He pulled back after several long moments, having no idea what to do now. No idea at all.

"I think maybe I should not have done that," was all that Brennan said, her voice low and slightly breathless.

"Oh, Bones," he replied, pulling her flush against him. "I think you definitely _should_ have done that."

"I should?"

"Are you kidding me?"

"Do we have to talk about it now?" she asked, frowning slightly.

Booth chuckled at her lack of tact. "No, Bones, we don't. But we will have to, later."

"I'm good with later."

"Later work for you?"

"Yes."

"Me too." He ran a finger down the side of her face. "Temperance?"

Her lips turned upwards in a smile at the use of her name, and she found herself blushing. "Yeah?"

He had nothing to say. He just loved her name, and knew when the moment was important enough to use it. "Never mind." Without hesitating he leaned forward to capture her lips with his again, and was suddenly overwhelmingly determined to provoke _that_ noise in her again, as many times as was humanly possible.

He owed it to himself, and of course, to Bones.


End file.
